chromatic

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   relating to color or to differences in color

   The artist used a rich chromatic range of reds, greens, and golds.

2. 2
   adj

   using notes outside the prevailing diatonic scale, especially successive semitones

   The melody rises through a tense chromatic passage before resolving.

3. 3
   adj

   relating to the separation or focusing of different wavelengths of light

   The lens coating reduces chromatic distortion around bright objects.

Common collocations

• chromatic scale Adjective + noun

Via French chromatique and Latin chromaticus from Ancient Greek khromatikos ("relating to color; chromatic in music"), from khroma ("color"). The musical sense already existed in Greek theory and refers to intervals understood through a color metaphor.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images